Eric Biber in the news:

“Upholding the agency’s decision is consistent with long standing Supreme Court precedent,” Biber said. “In some ways they were asking for a revolution and the Supreme Court didn’t take up that invitation.”

Eric Biber interviewed on NPR, January 5, 2014
Eric Biber … says no one realized how common carcinogens are. Today, the list of potentially toxic chemicals is so long that it’s confusing to businesses that are trying to comply with the law, and that’s only half the problem. “The law uses a citizen-suit provision in which anyone can sue a company for violating the law,” Biber says. “The problem is it does create an incentive for more and more people to sue.”

“There are some 100,000 species of plants and animals in North America, and asking one federal agency to stay on top of that is tough,” Biber says. “If there were restrictions on the number of citizen-initiated petitions being reviewed, the government would lose a whole universe of people providing high-quality information about species at risk, and it is likely that many species would be left unprotected.”

While Biber doubts whether the initiative’s proposal will get the requisite signatures to make it onto the ballot, he says that environmental groups might want to use it as a rallying call to “get out the vote for the election (and perhaps push for success on other initiatives they might have for the ballot that they care about, too).”

“I very much am concerned that CEQA will be increasingly watered down,” Biber said. “I think we’ve already seen a pattern of this happening.” His biggest concern is that the argument for easing environmental review for proposals that create jobs and are environmentally friendly could lead to confusion and conflict over what kind of projects are worthy.

What’s needed is a wholesale shift in the agency’s culture. Culture change is not as simple as creating a new agency. But it can be accomplished, with determined leadership and sustained outside oversight.

Officials and students at Berkeley’s law school spent the past academic year adjusting the school’s assistance program in light of the new federal law, said Eric Biber, an assistant professor and member of the financial aid committee. The school can afford to be more generous with its own money because of the infusion of federal assistance…. “Our goal was to provide better coverage for our students in a way we could sustain in the long term,” Biber said.

“I don’t know that the information has really trickled out to students,” Ma said. “The students who are really interested in it are going out and doing their own research.”

Unfortunately, the Bush administration undermined the consultation process by introducing loopholes in the implementing regulations. These loopholes potentially exempt a wide range of development projects from consultation…. Congress has given the Obama administration authority to undo these regulatory changes. The Obama administration should use its authority to restore the role of high-quality information in endangered species protection.

“It would seem very difficult for them in four days to respond to so many thoughtful comments in an effective way,” said Eric Biber…. Along with other law professors across the country, Biber sent in 70 pages of comment.”

“The rules are overbroad, rushed and possibly illegal,” Biber said. “Given the timing of the proposed changes, it’s clearly an effort by the administration to weaken the regulations before President Bush leaves office.”

Eric Biber … said California courts can be quick to enforce trespass laws. “The court system is often very protective of people’s rights to keep people off their land,” Biber said. “It may be hard for (Google) to avoid liability.”

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